From Middle English obscure, from Old French obscur, from Latin obscūrus, from ob- + *scūrus, from itc-pro *skoiros, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃-.

• (RP) IPA: /əbˈskjʊə(ɹ)/, /əbˈskjɔː(ɹ)/
• (America) IPA: /əbˈskjʊɹ/, /əbˈskjɝ/

obscure (comparative obscurer, superlative obscurest)

1. Dark, faint or indistinct.
   • 1892, Denton Jaques Snider, Divine_Comedy#Inferno, 1, 1-2 (originally by Dante Alighieri)

     I found myself in an obscure wood.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Proverbs 20:20 ↗:

     His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

2. Hidden, out of sight or inconspicuous.
   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene iii]:

     The obscure bird / Clamoured the livelong night.

   • 1606, John Davies of Hereford, Bien Venu:

     the obscure corners of the earth

3. Difficult to understand.
   • 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, published 1959, →OCLC ↗:

     The lock was of a kind that Watt could not pick. Watt could pick simple locks, but he could not pick obscure locks.

   an obscure passage or inscription;    The speaker made obscure references to little-known literary works.

4. Not well-known.
5. Unknown or uncertain; unclear.

   The etymological roots of the word "blizzard" are obscure and open to debate.

• (dark) cimmerian, dingy; See also Thesaurus:dark
• (faint or indistinct) fuzzy, ill-defined; See also Thesaurus:indistinct
• (hidden, out of sight) occluded, secluded; See also Thesaurus:hidden
• (difficult to understand) fathomless, inscrutable; See also Thesaurus:incomprehensible
• (not well-known) enigmatic, esoteric, mysterious; See also Thesaurus:arcane

• clear

• clare-obscure
• clear-obscure
• obscurity
• obscuration

• French: obscur
• German: obskur, dunkel, vernebelt, finster, düster, undeutlich, unklar, unbestimmt, zweifelhaft, dahergelaufen
• Italian: oscuro
• Portuguese: obscuro
• Russian: тёмный
• Spanish: obscuro

• German: unbedeutend, versteckt, verborgen, unsichtbar, schleierhaft, unbekannt
• Italian: nascosto, oscurato
• Russian: скры́тый

• French: sibyllin
• German: unverständlich
• Italian: confuso, poco chiaro, vago, indistinto
• Russian: непоня́тный
• Spanish: obscuro

• Russian: малоизве́стный
• Spanish: obscuro

obscure (obscures, present participle obscuring; simple past and past participle obscured)

1. (transitive) To render obscure; to darken; to make dim; to keep in the dark; to hide; to make less visible, intelligible, legible, glorious, beautiful, or illustrious.
   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act V, scene iii]:

     They are all couched in a pit hard by Herne's oak, with obscured lights.

   • c. 1688', William Wake, Preparation for Death

     There is scarce any duty which has been so obscured in the writings of learned men as this.

2. (transitive) To hide, put out of sight etc.
   • 1994, Bill Watterson, Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat, page 62:

     I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity.

3. (intransitive, obsolete) To conceal oneself; to hide.
   • 1623 (first performance), John Fletcher, William Rowley, “The Maid in the Mill”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC ↗, Act IV, scene ii:

     How! There's bad news. / I must obscure, and hear it.

• (to render obscure; to darken; dim) becloud, bedarken, bedim, bemist

• French: obscurcir
• German: verdunkeln, vernebeln, verunklaren, verwirren
• Italian: oscurare, offuscare
• Russian: затемня́ть

• French: obscurcir
• German: verschleiern, verdecken, verbergen
• Italian: nascondere, occultare
• Russian: скрыва́ть
• Spanish: esconder, ocultar